Container handling apparatus



April 1 1', 1944. GA ZER 2,346,421-

CONTAINER HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 29, 1942. 2 Sheets-Sheet l ill a D 5' I 4 I O 9 F .2 T Q (j O G I/ 20 2'0 INVENTOR ATTORNEY April 11, 1944. H, E. GANTZER CONTAINER HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 29, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Howara E G'a BY 77 e?! Q. 6 ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 11, 1944 UNITED sTATEseaTENT OFFICE CONTAINER. HANDLING A PPARATUS Howard E. Gantzer, Kenmore, N. Y., assignor to Consolidated Packaging "Machinery Corporation, Buffalo, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application December 29, 1942, Serial No. 470,441

(Cl. 19.8----34l 4. Claims.

The present invention relates to new and use- :ful improvements in feeding or timing mechanism and particularly seeks to provide a novel star wheel or timing wheel adapted to cooperate with a conveyor in the handling of containers.

For the purposes of illustration, the present invention will be described as adapted for use as a timing wheel in conjunction with the feedin conveyor of a container capping machine. It will be apparent that the timin wheel ma also be used generally as a star wheel or as a feeding wheel and that it may be used in many different types and classes of article-handling devices. In my copending applications Ser. No.

388,947, filed April 17, 1941, now Patent 'No.

2,304,905, issued December 15, 1942 and Ser. No. 404,807, filed July 26, 1941, I have disclosed timing devices adapted for the same general purpose as the present invention when it is used as a timing device.

Prior known forms of timing devices have generally included the ordinary star wheel which normally comprises merely a rotatable disc provided with a plurality of radially disposed pocke'ts, each of which is so shaped and sized a to closely embrace a container which is to be projected into engagement with the capping elements of a container capping machine. Obviously, it is necessary to provide a special star wheel for each particular type of container which it is desired to handle. It is an object of the present invention to provide a timing device having the general attributes of the solid star wheel but which is so constructed as to permit of a relatively wide range of adjustment in the span between adjacent pocket-forming elements whereby the timing device may be accommodated to the handling of a considerable range of sizes of containers. It is an object of the present invention to provide an adjustable timing device or star wheel of the type discussed above which will be eX- ceedingly compact and occupy a minimum of space while at the same time being capable of a range of adjustment not heretofore available in adjustable star wheels of comparable compactness.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a timin device or star wheel of compact, adjustable type which is inexpensive of manufacture, reliable and simple in operation and unlikely to need repair or replacement over long periods of time.

.It is a further object of the present invention to provide an adjustable timing device or star wheel which includes a plurality of containerengaging fingers which are relatively movable to change the pacing therebetween whereby to accommodate containers of different sizes wherein means is provided for simultaneous movement of all of the fingers, said means being simple in mechanical design and-easy of manipulation.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a compact timing device or star wheel of the simple, easy to adjust type discussed above, in which a range of adjustment is provided considerably in excess of the range of adjustment which would be available if the fingers wereto be movable in radial directions only.

Other and further objects of the present -invention will become apparent by reference to the drawings, the accompanying detailed description and the appended claims.

In the drawings wherein is illustrated a preferred but not necessarily the only form of the present invention Fig. 1 is a somewhat fragmentary elevational view of a container capping machine with which the present invention may be associated;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the timing wheel comprising the present invention, showing the fingers of the timing wheel in engagement with containers of a particular size;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary, enlarged view similar to Fig. 1 in which the timing wheel and certain of its driving mechanism are shown in section;

Fig. 4 is a section along the line 44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a section along the line 55 of Fig. 3;

and

Fig. 6 is a top plan view corresponding in general with Fig. 2 but showin the fingers in a different position of adjustment and in engagement with containers of a different size.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the invention as illustrated is shown in conjunction with a container capping machine including a main support frame A, a rotary capping assem bly generally indicated at B, intermediate transfer means C, and a main or feed-in conveyor D adapted to move and support a line of containers E.

The timing device constructed in accordance with this invention is associated with the feed-in conveyor D and positioned slightly ahead of the intermediate transfer or container presenting device C. In general its position is such that it presents spaced fingers successively in the path of the containers E as they are progressed by the conveyor D. As mor fully disclosed in said copending applications, the timing device may be availed of to retard the line of containers E vided with a boss 6 adapted to rotatably support.

a vertically extending shaft 1. As shown in Fig.

3, the lower end of the shaft 1 is operativelyconnected with the intermediate containerpresenting device C through the medium of chain and sprocket connection generally indicated at 8. It will be understood that the convide for close nesting of the finger 25 and to increase the range of adjustment, each of the fingers may be provided with a rounded notch 28 and the innermost ends of ach of the fingers may be so rounded as to fit within the notch in the adjacent finger 25. The position of nested relationship thus permitted is particularly illustrated in the sectional view in Fig. 5. Thus Fig. 5 illustrates the innermost extreme of movement of the fingers 25 while Fig. 6 illustrates the outermost extreme in which the fingers assume positions approximately radial of the disc Obviously the ends of the fingers are considerably more widely spaced in the position iltainer presenting device C is driven from the main machine drive (not shown) in properly timed relation with the cap-applying device B.

A forwardly extending bracket 9 is secured to the'front face of the conveyor D and includes a sleeve portion In adapted to receive the upper end of the shaft 1. A two-part mounting bracket is adapted to rotatably support the timing wheel and includes an upper portion I pivotally carried by the upper end of the shaft 1 and a lower portion |2 pivotally carried by the shaft 1 and disposed beneath the sleeve I of the bracket 9. The lower bracket portion I2 is prevented from sliding downwardly along the shaft 1 by a pinion gear |3 which is rigidly affixed-to the shaft. The pinion I3 is disposed in meshing engagement with a spur gear I4 carried by the lower end of a vertically extending shaft l5 which extends upwardly through the upper and lower bracket portions H and I2 comprising the timing wheel mounting bracket. An arbor I6 is keyed to the upper projecting end of the shaft |5. Y

The timing wheel includes a disc I! having an upwardly extending hub |8 rigidly supported on the arbor l6 and is secured in rotative relationship' therewith as by a cap nut l9 threadably received upon the upper portion of the arbor I6. v 1

On its upper surface the disc I! carrie a plurality of fixed guiding studs 2|]. An adjustable disc 2| is carried by the hub |8 in a position vertically spaced from the disc As shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the hub l8 has an annular groove 22 formed therein in which is adapted to be seated a set screw 23 threaded through the disc 2| Manipulation of the set screw 23 will free the disc 2| for rotation relative to the hub l8 and will secure the disc in desired adjusted position. The disc 2| carries a plurality of downwardly extending pivot pins 24 upon each of which is freely pivoted the inward end of a finger 25. The fingers 25 are confined between the discs l1 and 2| in such a manner as to be freely pivotable on their respective pivot pins 24. The fingers 25 may be of a length considerably greater than a radius of the disc I! and they are provided in their under surfaces with elongated grooves adapted to slidably fit over the guiding studs on the disc At their outer ends the fingers are bevelled as at- 2! preferably on the side opposite that contacted by the containers E in their movement along the path of the conveyor B.

It will be apparent that the fingers 25 may be moved inwardly and outwardly of the periphery of the disc I! by limited rotation of the disc 2| relative to the disc H. In order to prolustrated in Fig. 6 than they are in the position illustrated in Fig. 5.

The two-part bracket |2 may be swung around the center of shaft 1 without disturbing the meshing relationship of the gears |3 and I4. Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, a web 29 is formed upon the upper bracket portion H and at its outer 'endthe web is perforated to receive one end of a contractile spring 30 whose other end is secured in any convenient manner to the frame of the conveyor D. The spring 3|] thus tends to urge the bracket l2 and the timing wheel carried thereby toward the path of the conveyor D. A screw3| is threadably received through the web 29 and one end thereof bears against the frame of. the conveyor D. Adjustment of the screw 3| will establish the limit of movement of the timing wheel toward the conveyor D under influence of the spring 30. The principal function of the spring 30 and other mechanism just described is that of a give-way mechanism operable in the event of misalignment or similar difficulty with the containers upon the conveyor D. p v

The timing'wheel just described will be adjusted by movement of the screw 3| into such position that the tips of the fingers 25 will project into the path of the containers E upon the conveyor D. Preferably this adjustment is so effected that the tips of the fingers 25 will so project while they are in their fully retracted position illustrated in Figs. Zand 3. In this condition of adjustment the machine is adapted to handle container whose span in the direction of travel along the conveyor D is equal to the distance between the tips of the fingers 25.- To handle containers of larger size it is merely necessary to loosen the set screw 23 and rotate theadjustment disc 2| to project the fingers to a greater extent from the periphery of the disc H. The spacing between the tips of the fingers will thus progressively become greater and the disc 2| may be secured in adjusted position when proper spacing has been achieved. v

a It will be observed that the adjustable timing wheel just described permits of a wider range of adjustment than could be obtained by any structure in which the fingers 25 were moved in directions radial of the disc ll. According to the present invention the fingers 25 are of a length greater than a radius of the wheel'll and obviously they could not be of this length if it were proposed to move them radially. The motion of the fingers 25 is such as to secure a degree of ad'- justment dependent wholly upon the length of the fingers and the possibility of nesting them by interfitting of their rounded inner ends with the rounded notches 28 formed in adjacent fingers. Thus the present invention provides an extremely compact type of wheel capable of an unusually wide range of adjustment. I

-When the adjustable star wheel of the present invention is used as a timing wheel it is preferably driven through the chain and sprocket mechanism 8 and the gears l3, M at such a speed that the tips of the fingers 25 will move somewhat slower than the linear speed of the conveyor D. Under these circumstances the device of the present invention will serve as an accurate timing device in the general manner disclosed and claimed in the copending applications above identified. Obviously the present invention is not limited to such use inasmuch as the particular features of adjustment and constructional design herein disclosed and claimed are generally applicable to star wheels irrespective of the particular machine or relationship with or in which they may be used.

The above detailed description of a preferred form of the invention has been made in order to comply with the patent statutes. It is intended that such description shall be taken in an illustrative rather than a limiting sense inasmuch as it is obvious that modifications and variations may be resorted to by those skilled in the art within the scope and purview of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a star wheel of the class described, the combination of a hub; spaced upper and lower discs concentric with said hub and of a diameter greater than that of said hub, said discs being angularly movable relative to one another about the center of said hub; a plurality of fingers located between said discs and projecting outwardly beyond the peripheries thereof; a plurality of pivot studs carried by one of said discs about each of which one of said fingers is freely pivoted; a plurality of guiding elements carried by the other of said discs, each of said fingers having an opening therein adapted to slidably receive one of said guiding elements; and means for securing said discs in various positions of relative angular adjustment whereby in each of said positions said fingers will project beyond the periphery of said discs to a different extent.

2. In a star wheel of the class described, the combination of a hub; spaced upper and lower discs concentric with said hub and of a diameter greater than that of said hub, said discs being angularly movable relative to one another about the center of said hub; a plurality of fingers located between said discs and projecting outwardly beyond the peripheries thereof; a plurality of pivot studs carried by one of said discs about each of which one of said fingers is freely pivoted; a plurality of guiding elements carried by the other of said discs, each of said fingers having an opening therein adapted to slidably receive one of said guiding elements, each of said fingers being formed on its inner end to present a rounded surface concentric with the pivot stud associated therewith and each of said fingers having a notch therein formed substantially to correspond to the rounded end of the adjacent finger whereby the adjacent fingers may be nested by entry of the rounded end of one finger into the notch of the other; and means for securing said discs in various positions of relative angular adjustment whereby in each of said positions said fingers will project beyond the periphery of said discs to a different extent.

3. In a star wheel of the class described, the combination of a hub; spaced upper and lower discs concentric with said hub and of a diameter greater than that of said hub, said discs being angularly movable relative to one another about the center of said hub; a plurality of fingers located between said discs and projecting outwardly beyond the peripheries thereof; a plurality of pivot studs carried by one of said discs about each of which one of said fingers is freely pivoted; a plurality of guiding elements carried by the other of said discs, each of said fingers having an elongated slot extending inwardly from the outer end thereof adapted to slidably receive one of said guiding elements; and means for securing said discs in various positions of relative angular adjustment whereby in each of said positions said fingers will project beyond the periphery of said discs to a different extent.

4.'In a star wheel of the class described, the combination of a hub; spaced upper and lower discs concentric with said hub and of a diameter greater than that of said hub, said discs being angularly movable relative to one another about the center of said hub; a plurality of fingers located between said discs and projecting outwardly beyond the peripheries thereof; a, plurality of pivot studs carried by one of said discs about each of which one of said fingers is freely pivoted; a

plurality of guiding elements carried by the other of said discs, each of said fingers having an elongated slot extending inwardly from the outer end thereof adapted to slidably receive one of said guiding elements, each of said fingers being formed on its inner end to present a rounded surface concentric with the pivot stud associated therewith and each of said fingers having a notch therein formed substantially to correspond to the rounded end of the adjacent finger whereby the adjacent fingers may be nested by entry of the rounded end of one finger into the notch of the other; and means for securing said discs in various positions of relative angular adjustment whereby in each of said positions said fingers will project beyond the periphery of said discs to a different extent.

HOWARD E. GANTZER. 

